Forward maneuvering assistance using head-up display

ABSTRACT

A system is described for providing forward maneuvering information of a vehicle to avoid obstacles that may damage the vehicle. The system includes a microprocessor configured to execute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium. The microprocessor is coupled to a sensor, a monitoring sensor, and a head-up display (HUD). The sensor receives information of surroundings of the vehicle. The monitoring sensor determines an angle of a steering wheel. The microprocessor receives the information and the angle, determines a guided path for the vehicle based on the information and the angle, and transmits the guided path to the HUD.

BACKGROUND

Vehicles may be equipped with various kinds of driving assistancesystems. Such systems may provide assistance, such as a parkingassistance system using a display while the vehicle is stationary ormoving at an extremely low speed during a parking maneuver. The parkingassistance system may be located in a forward portion of the vehicle viaa central information display, such as a windshield, rear-view mirror,or center console, such that the driver is looking forward to view theinformation instead of looking in the direction that the vehicle ismoving or projected to move. In this situation, the driver cannotmaintain view of the road while using the parking assistance system topark the vehicle.

Another driving assistance system is a warning system that informs thedriver or occupant (“driver”) of a situation that could be dangerous,such as a collision with another vehicle. Some examples of warningsystems that provide information to the occupant are included in back-upassistance systems, lane-assist systems, and blind spot detectionsystems.

While the above-identified systems provide the occupant with warnings ofpotential collisions with objects or other vehicles, these systems failto provide forward maneuvering assistance to occupants. Morespecifically, these systems fail to provide the occupant with guidanceinformation related to specific conditions, such as narrow roads withobstacles in the occupant's projected path or driving through gates orentering into driveways, in such a way that the occupant may view theguidance information while driving and maintain view of the road. Forexample, a back-up assistance system provides a warning to the occupantwhen the vehicle is in reverse and when certain objects are locatedbehind or near a rear portion of the vehicle within a certain proximityto the vehicle. The system does not provide the occupant with forwardmaneuvering information. Similarly, the blind spot warning system alertsthe occupant to objects within a certain proximity to a specific blindspot on the vehicle, but does not provide information of objects orvehicles that may enter into such an area on the vehicle based on thevehicle's forward projected path.

Furthermore, when occupants are operating the vehicle in a forwarddirection or are turning, occupants often misjudge driving maneuvers ordo not notice other vehicles or objects in the vehicle's projected path.This misjudgment may lead to the vehicles colliding into or scrapingagainst other vehicles or objects, causing damage to the vehicles,objects, or other vehicles. A forward maneuvering assistance system witha head-up display (HUD) in the field of view (FOV) of an occupantprovides guidance and/or safety information about specific conditions orobstacles, such as gates, walls, adjacent cars, while the occupant isable to maintain view of the road, even at low speeds in narrow lanes orwhile entering a driveway or passing through a gate. Because theinformation is displayed in the occupant's FOV, the occupant may reactmore quickly to the provided information. Forward maneuvering assistancesystems increase the occupant's safety by assisting the occupant inavoiding obstacles and damage to the vehicle.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the present disclosure and isnot a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features,aspects, and objectives.

Disclosed herein are implementations of a system for providing forwardmaneuvering information of a vehicle. The system includes amicroprocessor configured to execute instructions stored on anon-transitory computer readable medium. The system also includes asensor, a monitoring sensor, and a head-up display (HUD) coupled to themicroprocessor. The sensor is configured to receive information ofsurroundings of the vehicle. The monitoring sensor is configured todetermine an angle of a steering wheel. The microprocessor is furtherconfigured to receive the information and the angle, determine a guidedpath for the vehicle based on the information and the angle, andtransmit the guided path to the HUD.

Also disclosed herein are implementations of a method for providingforward maneuvering information of a vehicle. The method includesreceiving information of surroundings proximate to a projected path ofthe vehicle and determining an angle of a steering wheel. The methodfurther includes processing the information of surroundings and theangle to determine a guided path for the vehicle. The method furtherincludes transmitting the guided path for the vehicle to a display.

Also disclosed herein are implementations of an assistance system of avehicle. The assistance system includes a non-transitory computerreadable medium to store instructions of the assistance system. Theassistance system also includes a processor configured to execute theinstructions. The processor is configured to determine a position of thevehicle relative to surroundings of the vehicle and determine an angleof a steering wheel. The processor is further configured to determine apath for the vehicle and transmit the path to another component of thevehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure is best understood from the following detaileddescription when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Itis emphasized that, according to common practice, the various featuresof the drawings are not to-scale. On the contrary, the dimensions of thevarious features are arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity.

FIG. 1 is an elevated perspective view of a vehicle implementing anexemplary vehicle assistance system used to enhance an occupant'sawareness of a surrounding environment and obstacles when the vehicle isturning or moving in a forward direction in accordance with one aspectof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram depicting exemplary components ofthe assistance system in accordance with one aspect of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for displayingone of a projected path or a guided path for the vehicle in accordancewith one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative FOV of an occupant from the vehicle having anexemplary display showing indicators representing obstacles in a path ofthe vehicle in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view showing an exemplary maneuveringcondition with an obstacle in a projected path of a vehicle inaccordance with one aspect of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is an illustrative FOV of the occupant from the vehicle with themaneuvering condition in FIG. 5 showing an exemplary display displayinga guided path with indicators and an alert in accordance with one aspectof the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, this disclosure relates to systems and methods using adisplay, preferably a head-up display (HUD) or an augmented realityhead-up display (AR-HUD) located on a windshield in a field of view ofan occupant, such as a driver, to assist the occupant in safelymaneuvering a vehicle during difficult maneuvering conditions, such astraveling on narrow roads, entering driveway entrances, passing throughgates, or avoiding obstacles, like poles or vehicles, while makingturns. This disclosure is not limited to forward maneuvering and may beused in additional implementations or environments, such as withadvanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary vehicle 100 having an assistancesystem 102 is illustrated. The vehicle 100 is equipped with theassistance system 102 to enhance an occupant's awareness of difficultdriving or maneuvering conditions and surrounding obstacles when thevehicle is turning or moving in a forward direction. The assistancesystem 102 is configured to project a virtual or an actual location ofan object, such as a potential obstacle, as well as surroundings of thevehicle 100 using a display 104. The display 104 may include at leastone of a HUD, an AR-HUD, a projector, or another type of display system.The display 104 may show three-dimensional images, content, or graphics,such as three-dimensional objects on a ground plane. The display 104 mayemploy lenses to magnify the data of the surrounding environment of thevehicle 100, and illustrate the magnified data on the display 104. Thedisplay 104 is intended to focus the occupant's attention in theoccupant's FOV, while providing the occupant with safety information, sothat the occupant is able to maintain view of the road. Preferably, thedisplay 104 is projected onto a windshield 106 within the occupant's FOVon the windshield 106 while the occupant is maneuvering the vehicle 100.The assistance system 102 may position the display 104 at an alternativelocation, such as at another position on the windshield 106, a rear-viewmirror, a console display, an instrument panel, or projected in such away that the display appears to be outside of the vehicle 100.

A monitoring sensor 108 is coupled to the vehicle 100, preferably to asteering wheel system 110. For example, the monitoring sensor 108 may becoupled to a steering wheel 114, a steering column, a rack and pinion,another part of the steering wheel system 110. The monitoring sensor 108may also be incorporated into a system, such as an electric powersteering system. The monitoring sensor 108 is a sensor that isconfigured to capture vehicle data or data representing a steering angleof the vehicle 100, such as an angle that the steering wheel 114 ispositioned or orientated. The angle of the vehicle 100 or the angle ofthe steering wheel 114 may be measured through a number of differentsystems and is not limited to any system shown. The monitoring sensor108 is further configured to transmit the captured data to theassistance system 102. In another embodiment, the monitoring sensor 108is configured to capture data of an angle of a tire 116 on the vehicle100. A Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) or GPS unit 118 may be coupledto the vehicle 100 and configured capture data on the position of thevehicle 100 and transmit the data to the assistance system 102. Theassistance system 102 may determine or calculate the angle of thesteering wheel 114 based on the position of the vehicle 100. Theassistance system 102 may be configured not to process the data capturedor display the processed data unless the vehicle 100 is making a turn,moving forward, or in a specific maneuvering condition.

The assistance system 102 includes one or more sensors 112, The sensor112 may be coupled to an exterior of the vehicle 100, preferablypositioned around the perimeter of the vehicle 100. The sensor 112 mayinclude a camera, image sensing device, sonar, radar, LIDAR, or GPS. Thesensor 112 is configured to capture data of the environment surroundingthe vehicle 100 and objects, such as obstacles, in a projected path ofthe vehicle. The sensor 112 transmits the captured data to theassistance system 102.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative block diagram depicting exemplary componentsof the assistance system 102 in accordance with one aspect of thepresent disclosure. The assistance system 102 may include additionaland/or fewer components and is not limited to those illustrated in FIG.2. The assistance system 102 includes a system 200 having a control unit202. The control unit 202 includes various components such as at leastone microprocessor or processor 204, a memory 206, a GPS unit 118, andan input/output 208. The control unit 202 may process the data capturedby the sensor 112 to identify the environment surrounding the vehicle100. The control unit 202 may process a position of an object withinthat environment. The control unit 202 processes data and generates agraphical representation of the environment and any objects captured bythe sensors 112. The control unit 202 also processes data generated bythe monitoring sensor 108 of the vehicle 100. The control unit 202receives data from the monitoring sensor 108 in order to determine ifthe vehicle 100 is traveling in a forward direction or making a turn.More specifically, the data may include an angle of the steering wheel114. The data may include the speed of rotation of the steering wheel114. If the control unit 202 determines that the vehicle 100 istraveling forward or turning and there is a specific maneuveringcondition or an obstacle in the projected path of the vehicle 100, thecontrol unit 202 may generate a graphical representation indicating aguided path for the vehicle 100. The control unit 202 may also generatean indicator and/or a guidance alert, or alert, which will be discussedfurther in FIG. 3.

The assistance system 102 is a dynamic system. Thus, the control unit202 may continuously update graphical representations of the environmentand the objects captured by the sensor 112 as the vehicle 100 istraveling. Graphical representations indicating the projected path ofvehicle 100 or the guided path for the vehicle 100 may also becontinuously updated as the position of the vehicle 100 changes.

The processor 204 is a device that processes signals and performsgeneral computing and arithmetic functions. The processor 204 mayinclude multiple single and multicore processors, co-processors, andarchitectures. The memory 206 may include a variety of memory, such asvolatile memory and non-volatile memory. The memory 206 may also includea disk, such as but not limited to a flash memory card, a memory stick,a magnetic disk drive, a solid state disk drive, a CR-ROM, or a DVD ROM.The memory 206 may store a system that controls resources of a computingdevice and software that the processor 204 executes. The processor 204and memory 206 are operatively coupled. The processor 204 performsprocesses by executing software instructions stored by the memory 206.The processes may include capturing data of the environment surroundingthe vehicle 100, including obstacles. The processes may also includedetermining the angle of the steering wheel 114. The processes mayfurther include calculating a projected path and/or a guided path forthe vehicle 100. The processes may also include displaying one of theprojected path or the guided path. The processes may further includedisplaying the indicator representing the obstacle and/or an alertnotification or alert to guide the occupant in maneuvering the vehicle100 safely and/or avoiding the obstacle.

The processor 204, the memory 206, the GPS unit 118, communicate throughthe input/output 208. The GPS unit 118 may be part of the system 200 orpart of a separate system. The input/output 208 is a part of the system200 and communicates with the sensor 112, the monitoring sensor 108, andthe display 104. The data captured by the sensor 112 and the monitoringsensor 108 is input to processor 204 for processing and output to thedisplay 104 for providing forward maneuvering assistance to the occupantof the vehicle 100. More specifically, the assistance system 102 mayshow a graphical representation of the data captured along with theprojected path of the vehicle 100, or a guided path determined orcalculated based on the data captured from one or more monitoringsensors 108 to detect a steering angle of the vehicle 100 and one ormore sensors 112 to capture information of the environment surroundingthe vehicle 100 that is processed by the processor 204 and displayed onthe display 104.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for displayingone of a projected path or a guided path for the vehicle in accordancewith one aspect of the present disclosure. The assistance system 102 mayinclude additional and/or fewer steps or processes and is not limited tothose illustrated in FIG. 3. In one embodiment, a non-transitorycomputer readable medium stores instructions of the assistance systemand the processor 204 is configured to execute the instructions. Oncethe processor 204 begins to execute the instructions, the processproceeds from step 300 to step 302.

At step 302, the assistance system 102 retrieves vehicle information,such as steering directions or the angle in which the steering wheel 114is oriented. The monitoring sensor 108 is coupled to the vehicle 100,preferably to the steering wheel system 110. The monitoring sensor 108is configured to determine the angle of the steering wheel 114. Morespecifically, the monitoring sensor 108 retrieves vehicle data andtransmits the vehicle data to the control unit 202 for processing by theprocessor 204. Alternatively, a GPS unit 118 may be used to providesteering direction information for the processor 204 to determine orcalculate the angle of the steering wheel 114.

At step 304, the assistance system 102 retrieves data of the informationof surroundings, or information proximate to a projected path of thevehicle 100, such as for the environment, objects, and obstacles. Asdescribed previously, a sensor 112, for example, a camera, LIDAR, radar,or sonar, or other detection-based systems is used to capture such data.The sensor 112 receives the information and transmits the information tothe control unit 202 for processing by the processor 204. The assistancesystem 102, at step 306, predicts travel based on the vehicleinformation and the surrounding information. For example, the assistancesystem 102 determines or calculates a projected path for the vehicle 100based on the position of the vehicle relative to surroundings of thevehicle, including any obstacles, and the angle of a steering wheel 114.The assistance system 102 may transmit the information proximate to theprojected path of the vehicle 100 to the display 104. The display 104 ispreferably within the FOV of the occupant. The processor 204 may processthe information and the angle of the steering wheel 114 to determine orcalculate a guided path for the vehicle. The assistance system 102 maydisplay the guided path of the vehicle 100 and the vehicle surroundingswithin the FOV of the occupant. The assistance system 102 may displayeither the projected path or the guided path, together with the vehiclesurroundings on a windshield 106 of the vehicle 100.

At decision step 308, the assistance system 102 determines whether thereis an obstacle detected from the sensor 112. An obstacle is an object,such as a gate, pole, barrier, vehicle, or object that is located nearor within the projected path of the vehicle 100. The assistance system102 displays a graphical representation of some of the environment thatsurrounds the vehicle 100. The assistance system 102 may displayimaginary lines extending from opposing side portions of the vehicle100. The vehicle 100 may travel within the imaginary lines, or graphicalrepresentations of the projected path. The assistance system 102 maydisplay the obstacle in a variety of shapes, such as a box or arectangle, to represent the shape or movement of the vehicle 100. Thesensor 112 receives information, or data, of an object and transmits thedata to the processor 204. The processor 204 determines if the object isan obstacle. The processor 204 may determine that the object is not anobstacle if the object is not proximate to the projected path of thevehicle. The processor 204 may also determine that the object is not anobstacle if the object is not within a predetermined range of theprojected path. If the processor 204 does not detect an obstacle, theprocess proceeds to step 310.

At step 310, the assistance system 202 displays the current display ondisplay 106, such as a projected path of the vehicle 100. At decisionstep 312, the assistance system 102 determines whether to continuedisplaying the current display. The display 104 continues displaying thecurrent display until the assistance system 102 determines to stopdisplaying the current display. When the assistance system 102determines to stop displaying the current display, the display is turnedoff. The process proceeds to step 320 and ends. The assistance system102 may stop displaying the current display after a certain period oftime after no obstacle is detected. In another embodiment, the occupantor another user may turn off or adjust the display 104.

Referring back to decision step 308, the processor 204 determineswhether there is an obstacle. If the processor 204 determines that anobstacle is present, the process proceeds to step 314 and decision step322. At step 314, an indicator is displayed. The indicator represents anobstacle proximate to the projected path of the vehicle 100. Theindicator may be a graphical representation of the obstacle or a shapesimilar to the size of a virtual image of the obstacle. The indicatormay include various features, such as intensity, brightness, color,shape, size, orientation, or visibility, which may change as the vehicle100 is approaching the obstacle or the obstacle is approaching thevehicle 100. If more than one indicator is displayed, each indicator maydisplay the same or different features. Once the indicator is displayed,the assistance system 102 may use the indicator to guide the occupant.The assistance system 102 may also display a guided path. This will bediscussed in further detail in FIGS. 4-6.

At decision step 316, the assistance system 102 determines whether theindicator may be removed. The assistance system 102 may remove theindicator immediately after the obstacle is no longer within apredetermined range from or proximate to the projected path or guidedpath for the vehicle 100 or after a predetermined amount of time. If theassistance system 102 determines that the indicator should be removed,then the process proceeds to step 318. At step 318, assistance system102 removes the indicator from the display 104. The process proceeds tostep 320 and ends. After the process ends, assistance system 102 mayreturn the conditions back to normal.

Referring back to decision step 308, if the assistance system 102determines that an obstacle is detected, the process continues atdecision step 322. At decision step 322, the assistance system 102determines whether an alert should be displayed on display 104. If theassistance system 102 determines that an alert should not be displayed,then the process returns to decision step 308 to determine whether anobstacle is detected. If the assistance system 102 determines that analert should be displayed, then the process proceeds to step 324.

At step 324, the processor 204 is configured to transmit an alert toanother component of the vehicle 100 in response to a projected path andan object of the surrounding overlapping. For example, the processor 204may transmit the alert to the display 104. The processor 204 may displaythe alert adjacent to the indicator. When the alert is within the guidedpath, the alert is used to alert the occupant of the obstacle. The alertalso may guide the occupant to avoid the obstacle. In other words, theprocessor 204 transmits the alert to the display 104 to warn or alertthe occupant to maneuver the vehicle 100 along the guided path and awayfrom the obstacle. The alert may be a shape, such as an arrow, torepresent the direction that the occupant should adjust the vehicle toavoid the obstacle. Preferably, the assistance system 102 transmits thealert within the FOV of the occupant on the windshield 108 so that theoccupant is able to maintain view of the road while using the assistancesystem 102. The alert may also have features to change intensity,brightness, color, shape, size, orientation, or visibility as thevehicle 100 is approaching the obstacle. The assistance system 102 maydisplay more than one alert. The assistance system 102 may displayalerts with the same or different features.

Similar to decision step 316, and step 318, the assistance system 102determines whether to remove the alert at decision block 326. When theassistance system 102 determines that the alert should be removed, theprocess proceeds to step 328. At step 328, the assistance system 102removes the alert from the display 104. The process proceeds to step 330and ends. After the process ends, the assistance system 102 may returnconditions back to normal. In one embodiment, the assistance system 102proceeds to an additional decision step after either steps 318 or 328 todetermine whether an indicator or an alert is displayed on display 104.If the assistance system 102 determines that either the indicator or thealert is displayed, the process proceeds back to decision step 308. Ifthe assistance system 102 detects neither the indicator nor the alertbeing displayed, then the process ends.

FIG. 4 illustrates an occupant's FOV 400 from the vehicle 100 whiletraveling through a specific condition having an exemplary displayshowing indicators 402, 404 representing obstacles in a path of thevehicle 100 in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure. Thevehicle 100 is traveling through the specific condition, such as on anarrow road 406 with walls 408, 410 on either side of the narrow road406. The sensor 112 receives information of the obstacles proximate to aprojected path 412 of the vehicle 100. The assistance system 102determines that the obstacles are proximate to the projected path 412.The processor 104 generates and transmits the indicators 402, 404 to thedisplay 104. The indicators 402, 404 represent obstacles, e.g., thewalls. The display 104 is located in the FOV of the occupant of thevehicle 100. The assistance system 102 may transmit display 104 on thewindshield 106 or project the display 104 to appear in front of orbehind the windshield 106.

As shown in the projected path 412 by the indicators 402, 404, thevehicle 100 is traveling closer to wall 410 than to wall 408. Morespecifically, the indicator 402 is a lighter color or shade than theindicator 404. The indicator 402 informs the occupant that the vehicle100 is at a proper distance from the wall 408. The indicator 402 furtherinforms the occupant that if the vehicle 100 continues along theprojected path 412, the vehicle 100 will not come in contact with thewall 408. The indicator 404 informs the occupant that the vehicle 100 isslightly close to the wall 410. The indicator 404 further informs theoccupant that if the occupant continues along the projected path 412,the vehicle 100 may come in contact with the wall 410, potentiallycausing damage to the vehicle 100 and/or the wall 410. If the vehicletravels to the left toward the indicator 402, the indicator 404 maybecome lighter to indicate to the occupant that the wall is becomingless of an obstacle. The indicator 404 may inform the occupant of achange in the status of the obstacle in a variety of ways, such aschanging the color of the indicator 404 from a red color indicating anobstacle to a green color indicating that the wall 410 is no longer anobstacle. The indicator 404 may also change the intensity, brightness,color, shape, size, orientation, or visibility of the indicator 404 asthe vehicle approaches or avoids the obstacle. The indicator 404 mayalso blink at one or more speeds. If the vehicle 100 turns too far,indicator 402 may become activated to indicate that wall 408 is now anobstacle. When the indicators 402, 404 are providing information to theoccupant to guide the vehicle, the assistance system 102 may change theprojected path 412 to a guided path. When the vehicle 100 is no longertraveling on the narrow road 406, the assistance system 102 may removethe indicator. Additionally, the assistance system 102 may continue toshow, fade, or turn off the display 104.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a specific condition 500 of a vehicle 100turning onto a driveway 506 and maneuvering through a gate having postsor barriers 508, 510 with assistance or guidance from the assistancesystem 102. FIG. 5 illustrates a sensor 112 coupled to a side of thevehicle 100 and configured to receive information of surroundings, orinformation 502 proximate to a projected path of the vehicle 100. Thesensor 112 captures surrounding information, such as the vehiclesurroundings 502. The sensor 112 may be a front camera used to captureinformation, such as the barriers 508, 510. The sensor 112 transmits theinformation 502 to the control unit 202. The control unit 202, namely,the processor 204 processes the information 502, including the barriers508, 510. The processor 204 detects an object and determines whether theobject is an obstacle, for example, as described in step 308. Theassistance system 202 determines the angle of the steering wheel 114from the monitoring sensor 108. The processor 204 is coupled to thesensor 112 and to the monitoring sensor 108. The processor 204 processesthe information 502, and the angle of the steering wheel 114. Theprocessor 204 determines the proximity of the barriers 508, 510 by usingthe angle of the steering wheel 114 and dimensions of the vehicle 100.The processor 204 then determines a guided path 612 for the vehicle 100to avoid the barriers 508, 510. The processor 204 transmits the guidedpath 612 for the vehicle 100 onto the display 104 as shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 illustrates an occupant's FOV 600 from the vehicle with themaneuvering condition in FIG. 5 showing an exemplary display displayinga guided path with indicators and an alert in accordance with one aspectof the present disclosure. The assistance system 102 presents indicators602, 604, such as augmented reality indicators or markers, onto thedisplay 104. The indicators 602, 604 guide the occupant of the vehicle100 to maneuver between various obstacles, such as barriers 508, 510,without damaging the vehicle 100. The assistance system 102 may displaythe indicators 602, 604 as virtual positions of the tire 116. Theassistance system 102 may display the indicators 602, 604 that areangled in a projected direction that the vehicle 100 may travel. Thedisplay 104 shows the guided path 612, such that the guided path 612incorporates an augmented virtual display wherein the entirety of avirtual vehicle is within the display 104. In other words, the processor204 evaluates the entire size of the vehicle, including, for example,side view mirrors, when determining the guided path 612.

In addition to the system and methods as described in FIG. 4, theassistance system 102 presents an alert 606, such as an augmentedreality alert or marker, on the display 104. The display 104 ispreferably the HUD or the AR-HUD. The alert 606 guides the occupant of avehicle 100 to maneuver between various obstacles, such as barriers 508,510, without damaging the vehicle 100. The assistance system 102 maydisplay the alert 606 that is attached to, adjacent to, or in proximitywith the indicator 604. The assistance system 102 may display more thanone alert 606 at the same time or separate times. The alert 606 may beangled in a projected direction that the vehicle 100 should travel, orbe a certain shape, such as an arrow pointing toward the direction ofguided travel. Displaying no alert near indicator 602 may inform theoccupant that the vehicle 100 is at a proper distance from the barrier508. In other words, the assistance system 102 informs the occupant thatif the vehicle 100 continues along the guided path 612, the vehicle 100will avoid the barrier 508. The alert 606 may inform the occupant thatthe vehicle 100 is slightly close to the barrier 510. The vehicle 100may collide with the barrier 510, causing damage, unless the vehicle ismaneuvered about the barrier 510. The alert 606 provides guidance to theoccupant to maneuver the vehicle 100 along the guided path 612. Inanother embodiment, the assistance system 102 automatically guides thevehicle 100 along the guided path 612 to avoid the obstacle 510.

Similar to indicator 604, if the vehicle is steered to the left towardindicator 602, the alert 606 may become lighter to indicate to theoccupant that the barrier 510 is becoming less of an obstacle. The alert606 may inform the occupant of a change in the status of the obstacle ina variety of ways, such as by changing the color of the alert 606 from ared color meaning indicating an obstacle to a green color indicatingthat the barrier 510 is no longer an obstacle. The alert 606 may alsochange the intensity, brightness, color, shape, size, orientation, orvisibility of the alert 606 as the vehicle approaches or avoids theobstacle. The alert 606 may also blink at one or more speeds or rhythms.If the vehicle 100 turns too far, the assistance system 102 may activatean additional alert to indicate that barrier 508 is now an obstacle.When the alert 606 provides the information to the occupant to guide thevehicle, the assistance system 102 may change the projected path to aguided path 612. When the vehicle 100 is no longer turning onto thedriveway 506 and traveling through the gate next too close to barriers508, 510, the assistance system 102 may remove the alert 606.Additionally, the assistance system 102 may continue to show, fade, orturn off the display 104.

As generally described, the systems and methods provided herein aredirected to content, such as graphical representations, displayed on avehicle HUD or an AR-HUD. Based on the detection of a collision or anon-optimal route, the assistance system 102 may inform or alert theoccupant that the current trajectory or projected path of the vehicle100 is not ideal. The indicators may be augmented reality indicators onthe display 104 to provide such information or an alert. Alerts with orwithout the indicators may also be displayed to provide such an alert.The assistance system 102 may make predictions as to the projected pathof travel of vehicle 100. Based on these predictions, or actuallyapproaching an object deemed an obstacle, the assistance system 102displays notifications. The notifications may include the indicators,such as augmented reality indicators, or alerts. Furthermore, theindicators and/or alerts may provide colors or guidance based ondirecting the occupant to an optimal path, such as the guided path, toavoid a collision. The use of a windshield HUD or AR-HUD offers theadvantage of allowing information to be displayed to the occupant's FOVfor receiving guidance information while keeping eyes on the road. Theprocessor 204 uses the sensor information and the angle of the steeringwheel 114 to determine or calculate the car trajectory and theinformation to steer away from nearby obstacles, such as gates, walls,adjacent cars, is transmitted to the occupant on the display 104.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with certainembodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not to belimited to the disclosed embodiments but, on the contrary, is intendedto cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements includedwithin the scope of the appended claims, which scope is to be accordedthe broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modificationsand equivalent structures as is permitted under the law.

1. A system for providing forward maneuvering information of a vehicle,comprising: a microprocessor, the microprocessor being configured toexecute instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readablemedium; a sensor coupled to the microprocessor and configured to receiveinformation of surroundings of the vehicle; a monitoring sensor coupledto the microprocessor and configured to determine an angle of a steeringwheel; and a head-up display (HUD) coupled to the microprocessor;wherein the microprocessor is further configured to: receive theinformation and the angle; determine a guided path for the vehicle basedon the information and the angle; and transmit the guided path to theHUD, wherein the guided path is configured to avoid a plurality ofobstacles while passing between at least two of the plurality ofobstacles.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information is definedas an obstacle proximate to the guided path of the vehicle.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the microprocessor is further configured togenerate an indication representing the obstacle.
 4. The system of claim2, wherein the microprocessor is further configured to transmit an alertto the HUD, the alert being defined as instructions to steer the vehicleaway from the obstacle and along the guided path.
 5. The system of claim1, wherein the HUD is further defined as an augmented reality head-updisplay (AR-HUD).
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the HUD is locatedin the field of view of an occupant of the vehicle.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the HUD is located on a windshield of the vehicle.
 8. Amethod for providing forward maneuvering information of a vehicle,comprising: receiving, at a hardware device, information of surroundingsproximate to a projected path of the vehicle; determining, by thehardware device, an angle of a steering wheel; processing, by thehardware device, the information of surroundings and the angle todetermine a guided path for the vehicle; and transmitting, by thehardware device, the guided path for the vehicle to a display, whereinthe guided path is configured to avoid a plurality of obstacles whilepassing between at least two of the plurality of obstacles.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising displaying an indicatorrepresenting an obstacle proximate to the projected path of the vehicle.10. The method of claim 9, wherein the displaying of the indicatorfurther comprises changing at least one of intensity, brightness, color,shape, size, orientation, or visibility as the vehicle approaches theobstacle.
 11. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing analert notification when an obstacle is within the projected path of thevehicle.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the providing of the alertnotification further comprises displaying the alert notification on anAR-HUD.
 13. The method of claim 8, further comprising transmittinginformation of surroundings proximate to the projected path of thevehicle to the display.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thedisplaying of the guided path further comprises displaying the guidedpath within a field of view (FOV) of an occupant of the vehicle.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, wherein displaying the guided path of the vehicleand the vehicle surroundings is on a windshield of the vehicle.
 16. Anassistance system of a vehicle, comprising: a non-transitory computerreadable medium to store instructions of the assistance system; aprocessor configured to execute the instructions, the processor beingconfigured to: determine a position of the vehicle relative tosurroundings of the vehicle; determine an angle of a steering wheel;determine a path for the vehicle; and transmit the path to anothercomponent of the vehicle, wherein the path is configured to avoid aplurality of obstacles while passing between at least two of theplurality of obstacles.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein theprocessor further is configured to transmit an alert in response to thepath and an obstacle of the surroundings overlapping.
 18. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the alert is an arrow representing the direction toadjust the vehicle to avoid the obstacle.
 19. The system of claim 17,wherein the alert changes at least one of intensity, brightness, color,shape, size, orientation, or visibility as the vehicle is approachingthe obstacle.
 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the alert istransmitted within a FOV of an occupant of the vehicle.